Space maintainers are used to hold the place of a baby tooth that has fallen out of a child’s mouth early due to decay or injury. A space maintainer is made of stainless steel and/or plastic. It is removable. The space maintainer will be removed once the permanent tooth starts to grow in. If a space maintainer is not put in the space where the baby tooth was lost, the surrounding teeth can take over that space. This can makes the permanent tooth come in crooked which can lead to difficulties in chewing.
